ICE 7

Single:

Stair:

Ritchin Chapter 6

Chapter six in Ritchin’s After Photography could almost be seen as an account of the internet into a near virtual-reality. Exemplifying the Turing test in the beginning, the stage is set to think about the advancements in technology and their effect on our mentality. Ritchin discusses his participation in the New York Times development of an online resource and the growth of a web of images and information that was engineered to tailor to the individual’s interests. Virtual realities such as Second Life and the “serious game” such as Food Force or the US Army’s basic training bring to light the dynamic of social interactions and codes within technology and the web. The internet has developed into a collective consciousness with unlimited information while still allowing for individualized experiences for those who utilize it. Ritchin also addresses the amateur’s grown potential in the age of the Internet and shared information. The refined capacities of a single professional are being outdone by the limited potential of multiple amateurs. Just as we are seeing exemplified through other forms of technology advancement and availability of resources, the collective amateurs are able to provide more information and context to a scene than a hired professional. This isn’t always the case but the developing trends of the Internet are making that increasingly more realistic.

ICE 6 Dry Mount

Book Concept Proposal

Continuing with screen-shots and camera-less photography, I am interested in working with google maps and the "street view" function. I explored a few different concepts using this resource as a method and they all led me to back to the notion of Voyerism.  As I got distracted navigating my way around the streets of San Francisco, I became extremely aware of the people that I was capturing in my screen shots as well as the windows I was looking in. In some cases, I was able to "walk" right up to someones street level living room or bedroom windows and take a picture without ever having been there or spotted peeping in. This series of work will work really well in a book format because it will allow room for variety in the shots that I include.

Image, War, Legacy

 

In the chapter “Image, War, Legacy”, Ritchin discussed photography’s role in media and politics. Photography is increasingly being used as a tool to “package” politicians and sell them to the target audience. It is not a means to make public figures a commodity. Ritchin uses examples of Richard Nixon and George Bush (both of them) posing for the camera to come across in the media as more macho or more involved with the soldiers in the Iraq war. He discusses how photography is being censored in the same rite, dictating how a person or situation is being portrayed or not allowing portrayal at all. During war time, graphic images of injured and dead civilians are being censored from new sources and deemed unpatriotic or morbid. In some cases, photographers are being held back from covering the wars at all. This reading made me think about Jean Baudrillard’s theory on post-modernism and consumer culture. He argues that after the industrial revolution and the possibilities for mechanical reproduction, consumption of objects (fueled by Capitalism) has developed into a type of alternate reality that dictates social hierarchy and individual status. Advertising and communication has turned into rapid, impersonal and shallow instances of interaction. All of these dynamics are creating a society, which has ultimately lost touch with reality. Photography, TV and film are significant factors that have paralleled this development and ultimately changed art in the process. Ritchin acknowledges this implication of photography etc, “even many non-governmental organizations, like major corporations have recently embarked on strategies to use photographs to “brand” their identities”, the branding being an effort to appeal to the consumerism that has plagued our society (89). I think this stance really has most relevance within journalism but certainly is something to consider when thinking about fine art and its evolution after photography and film came along. That, however, is a whole other beast.